Travel Without Moving Your Feet: 100 of the Best Middle-Grade Books!
by Ann Marie Gardinier Halstead

"That’s the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.” - Jhumpa Lahiri

Beware the “summer slide!” Summer break is a long time for kids to take a break from educational activity. To avoid a slide in their academic development, one of the best things parents can do is help their kids discover books they’ll love. Books can take children (and adults) to distant places, introduce them to fascinating characters, expand their imagination, expand their worldview, and, yes, teach them new vocabulary and exercise their brains.

Check out this list of 100 fantastic middle-grade books (ages 8-12) published from June 2016 to July 2017. You’ll even find books especially selected for reluctant readers.

A Pakistani-American Muslim girl struggles to stay true to her family’s vibrant culture while simultaneously blending in at school after tragedy strikes her community in this sweet and moving-middle grade novel.

A middle-grade novel about a girl who, with the help of a true-blue friend, a big-hearted aunt and uncle, and the dog of her dreams, unexpectedly learns the true meaning of family in the least likely of places.

Memoir of the heroic young inventor who brought electricity to his Malawian village adapted for young readers.

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Great! Not officially, but I can tell you what my own 2nd grader was into (he just finished 2nd)! Dog Man, Magic Treehouse, Mr. Louie is Screwy, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid (which was a little beyond his reading level but he read that series near the end of the year because he wanted to be like big brother!). His older brother was into Big Nate and the Stink books, but he didn't get into those. Hope this helps!